tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75337772862241847932017-09-05T20:06:32.682-07:00MENA SOCIALFollow the most talked about Middle East content through a powerful real-time aggregation platform covering 30 topics from 1,000+ global content providers.POSTERnoreply@blogger.comBlogger646125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533777286224184793.post-6698884268636061962014-05-22T00:06:00.000-07:002014-05-22T05:42:50.478-07:00Technology Is A Middle East Bright Spot !
The tech competition could easily have taken place in Silicon Valley. The winning team designed a 3D printer with the basic tools and materials available. The runners-up developed a smartphone application to help users find the nearest pharmacy and a game that teaches kids about electronic circuits. A few of the projects suggested this wasn’t your usual techie gathering, however. One app Abbas ElMoussawihttps://plus.google.com/105848221599631399644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533777286224184793.post-22744419094245401892014-05-21T23:58:00.000-07:002014-05-22T05:25:50.346-07:00Half MENA Suppliers Asked For Bribes By Hotel Managers !Almost 55 percent of hotel suppliers have been asked to offer a monetary bribe by a hotel procurement manager, while 72.6 percent of suppliers know of other supply firms that are using bribes, according to the results of a new industry survey carried out earlier this year. The Hotelier Middle East Supplier Survey 2014, which received 108 responses during January and February of this year, also Abbas ElMoussawihttps://plus.google.com/105848221599631399644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533777286224184793.post-70301120523181222122014-05-21T23:54:00.000-07:002014-05-22T05:25:50.355-07:00SeaWorld Mulling Multiple Middle East Theme ParksUS theme park operator SeaWorld Entertainment has revealed that it is looking into the possibility of expanding into the Middle East. The company said in a statement that it has entered into a six month memorandum of understanding for a multi-park development in the Middle East. SeaWorld Entertainment president & CEO Jim Atchison said: The company recently entered into an exclusive six-month Abbas ElMoussawihttps://plus.google.com/105848221599631399644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533777286224184793.post-31761798197712524722014-05-21T23:51:00.000-07:002014-05-22T05:25:50.394-07:00How New Rivalries Are Transforming MENASince the middle of the twentieth century, the Middle East has seen regional hegemons come and go. The 1950s and 1960s were Egypt’s era: Cairo was the Arab World’s capital and the home of its charismatic postcolonial leader, Gamal Abdel Nasser. But Israel’s victory over Egypt, Jordan, and Syria in the 1967 war; Nasser’s death, in 1970; and the spike in oil prices after the 1973 war brought that Abbas ElMoussawihttps://plus.google.com/105848221599631399644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533777286224184793.post-18768767225709465182014-05-14T23:48:00.000-07:002014-05-22T05:25:50.402-07:00Where's The Pain? Tom Chapman Has A Remedy...The U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis announced recently that healthcare spending has risen 9.9 percent in the first quarter of 2014, the largest quarterly increase in more than 30 years. The cost of healthcare in the U.S. is now roughly $3 trillion and it is only going to get worse given the increasing costs of Obamacare subsidies, projected to exceed $1 trillion in 10 yearsAbbas ElMoussawihttps://plus.google.com/105848221599631399644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533777286224184793.post-90664916404803197352014-05-13T23:08:00.000-07:002014-05-22T05:25:50.442-07:00Funding Flows For Middle East Tech StartupsIf you have ever daydreamed about quitting your job and starting out as a digital entrepreneur, now might be the time to do so – venture capitalists and private equity funds are investing greater amounts in the region than ever before. Though they are only a handful, the region’s venture capital (VC) players are increasing their funds, up from a few million dollars just a couple of years ago, to Abbas ElMoussawihttps://plus.google.com/105848221599631399644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533777286224184793.post-10195182706973775752014-05-13T23:04:00.000-07:002014-05-22T05:25:50.449-07:00Introducing The... Falafel Index !The Arab Spring brought into focus the economic underpinnings of instability in the Middle East. In a region where over one in four youth is unemployed, how well people can afford a basic meal is a primary consideration. However, the Big Mac Index – now a golden standard for measuring purchasing power– doesn’t quite size up the region’s economic situation. This index determines the purchasing Abbas ElMoussawihttps://plus.google.com/105848221599631399644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533777286224184793.post-56588119284156189202014-05-13T22:59:00.000-07:002014-05-22T05:25:50.488-07:00Center For Middle East Entrepreneurship to LaunchDePaul University, the largest U.S. Catholic university, and Al Faisal Holding, one of the leading private companies in Qatar, have signed an agreement to take the first steps toward a long-term collaboration that supports entrepreneurship and business development in Qatar and the Middle East. DePaul, based in Chicago, plans to launch the Sheikh Faisal Center for Entrepreneurship in the Middle Abbas ElMoussawihttps://plus.google.com/105848221599631399644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533777286224184793.post-23587618080516321392014-05-05T00:20:00.000-07:002014-05-22T05:25:50.496-07:00How To Make (A Shitload Of) Money...Subscribe to MENA Social and get more...Abbas ElMoussawihttps://plus.google.com/105848221599631399644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533777286224184793.post-43249236456653537632014-05-05T00:09:00.000-07:002014-05-22T05:25:50.535-07:00PayPal Seeks To Boost Regional E-commercePayPal, as part its continued expansion throughout the Middle East, announced a new partnership with Cairo Amman Bank yesterday at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Amman. The new partnership, PayPal’s second with a regional bank, will attempt to integrate PayPal services with CAB banking, with the goal of facilitating e-commerce transactions for both consumers and merchants. “When we started [in the MENAAbbas ElMoussawihttps://plus.google.com/105848221599631399644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533777286224184793.post-77954700274697007372014-05-05T00:04:00.000-07:002014-05-22T05:25:50.542-07:00Startup MENA And The Gap Between Egypt and The EUStartup MENA, the initiative funded in part by the Danish government, will hold a pitch event for Egyptian startups on May 14th, as part of its ongoing efforts to help grow the country’s startup ecosystem. The event will provide an opportunity for growth-stage startups to pitch in front of Egyptian and European VCs, who will provide feedback in the form of professional guidance, coaching, and Abbas ElMoussawihttps://plus.google.com/105848221599631399644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533777286224184793.post-35671384301822133392014-05-04T23:55:00.000-07:002014-05-22T05:25:50.581-07:00Can Algeria Become A Startup Hub?Following the example of Morocco and Tunisia, Algeria is witnessing more and more entrepreneurs, both young and old. And although we could write entire books on the difficulties facing entrepreneurs in Algeria, what follows are several reasons go ahead and start. It’s a young market with high growth potential A favorable economic environment marked 2013 by over 3% GDP growth. This immature Abbas ElMoussawihttps://plus.google.com/105848221599631399644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533777286224184793.post-2360098100197055442014-04-30T23:23:00.000-07:002014-05-22T05:25:50.588-07:00Latest Tech News from MENA SummaryHere’s our roundup of some of the most important or interesting regional entrepreneurial news from the Middle East in March. One of the lesser known entrepreneurial gains of the stalled Arab Spring has been the uprising in creativity in media and the arts. People are expressing themselves creatively and artistically in ways never seen before, especially in the independent sector. In fact this Abbas ElMoussawihttps://plus.google.com/105848221599631399644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533777286224184793.post-40766607702841276712014-04-30T23:14:00.000-07:002014-05-22T05:25:50.627-07:00MENA Defence Spending To Reach $920bn By 2020Defence spending in the Middle East is projected to soar to $920 billion between 2014 and 2020, according global consultants IHS. “Economic prosperity has been one of the reasons behind the rapid acceleration of defence spending in the Middle East since 2011,” said Craig Caffrey, senior defence budget analyst at IHS Jane’s Aerospace, Defence & Security. “Four of the top five fastest growing Abbas ElMoussawihttps://plus.google.com/105848221599631399644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533777286224184793.post-24362311149127613612014-04-25T05:36:00.000-07:002014-05-22T05:25:50.635-07:00Top 10 Reasons Startups SucceedStartups are literally a journey into the unknown and entrepreneurs need to be comfortable with taking on ambiguity, uncertainty and multiple challenges. Unfortunately, on average, 9 out of 10 startups will go out of business, and the remaining that are able to survive and succeed are the ones that capture the qualities outlined below.1) Vision. A well-defined vision is a skill or gift that everyAbbas ElMoussawihttps://plus.google.com/105848221599631399644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533777286224184793.post-18977049750386880322014-04-24T00:12:00.000-07:002014-05-22T05:25:50.674-07:00Four Seasons Hotels To Launch Luxury Jet ServiceFour Seasons Hotels and Resorts is to launch a new private jet service which will take guests on bespoke journeys, with stops its properties around the world. The branded aircraft, a completely retrofitted Boeing 757, will feature interiors and exterior design customized by the company’s team of design experts. From February 2015, the Four Seasons Jet will transport 52 guests on bespoke journeys,Abbas ElMoussawihttps://plus.google.com/105848221599631399644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533777286224184793.post-27188784020467380372014-04-24T00:04:00.000-07:002014-05-22T05:25:50.682-07:00Libya’s $66 Billion Sovereign Wealth Fund Abdel-Magid Breish, the chairman of Libya’s $66 billion sovereign wealth fund, said it planned to hire external companies to manage about $11 billion of its assets under a restructuring plan. The Libyan Investment Authority, valued at about $66 billion by Deloitte LLP, will split its assets into three distinct funds starting as soon as next year, Breish said in an interview in London Thursday. “Abbas ElMoussawihttps://plus.google.com/105848221599631399644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533777286224184793.post-56942861643847436442014-04-15T21:12:00.000-07:002014-05-22T05:25:50.721-07:00Israel Lobby’s Trojan Horse: "Reforming" Education LawsOn March 19, Louis D. Brandeis Center President Kenneth Marcus keynoted a Washington DC panel organized by the hardline pro-Israel Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET). It was titled “Politicizing Education: Title VI of the Higher Education Act.” Speaking from an ornate room in Washington DC’s Russell Senate Office Building, Marcus described the seminar as “the first public event inaugurating Abbas ElMoussawihttps://plus.google.com/105848221599631399644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533777286224184793.post-89991010779902582172014-04-15T21:00:00.000-07:002014-05-22T05:25:50.729-07:00Codefish: Custom Software Consulting And DevelopmentCodefish is an IT consulting and software development company headquartered in Lebanon with global delivery capabilities, providing custom software-consulting and development services. Codefish's mission is to continue to achieve a standard of excellence that inspires its customers to work with it simply because they value the company's work. In every project, the company will work with you, Abbas ElMoussawihttps://plus.google.com/105848221599631399644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533777286224184793.post-34185177124514120592014-04-15T20:47:00.000-07:002014-05-22T05:25:50.768-07:00The Arabian Construction Company (ACC) StoryArabian Construction Company (ACC) is a dynamic and progressive organization that has grown to become a leader in its industry. ACC has been operating since 1967, through a comprehensive regional network throughout the Middle East. From power generation and desalination plants, to factories, hotels, hospitals, and intricately sophisticated smart buildings, ACC's track record is a prestigious listAbbas ElMoussawihttps://plus.google.com/105848221599631399644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533777286224184793.post-84079585631149122392014-04-14T02:40:00.000-07:002014-05-22T05:25:50.776-07:00Middle East M&A Value Drops 15% To $5.7 BillionThe value of announced merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions with any Middle Eastern involvement reached $5.7 billion during the first quarter of 2014, 15 percent less than the $6.8 billion witnessed during the same period last year, marking the lowest first quarter total in the region since 2004, Thomson Reuters said Tuesday in its quarterly investment banking analysis for the Middle East Abbas ElMoussawihttps://plus.google.com/105848221599631399644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533777286224184793.post-90699198053837681452014-04-14T02:34:00.000-07:002014-05-22T05:25:50.815-07:00Iraq’s Economy Finally Gathers PaceUnderpinned by rising oil production, war-ravaged Iraq’s economy is widely tipped to be one of the best performers in the Middle East this year. But amid the growing optimism, the International Monetary Fund reckons there’s still a few economic wrinkles that need to be ironed out. That was the conclusion of a staff visit to Amman earlier this week where an IMF team met with an Iraqi delegation Abbas ElMoussawihttps://plus.google.com/105848221599631399644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533777286224184793.post-23128595925064813592014-04-14T02:29:00.000-07:002014-05-22T05:25:50.822-07:00Fadi Ghandour On How The Arab World Can ScaleEditor’s note: Fadi Ghandour is the the Chairman of Wamda, the founder of Aramex, and board member of Endeavor, an international non-profit working to enable and empower entrepreneurs. This article is crossposted with Endeavor's Ecosystem Insights blog.Two-thirds of the Arab World's population is under the age of 29. The region is not only growing younger, but also becoming more literate. With Abbas ElMoussawihttps://plus.google.com/105848221599631399644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533777286224184793.post-21736569206184078122014-04-14T02:23:00.000-07:002014-05-22T05:25:50.861-07:00First Qatar Real Estate Invests In Qatar's The Pearl's HiltonAt the International Hotel Investment Forum in Berlin, the First Qatar Real Estate Development Company (“First Qatar”) signed a management agreement for its property on the Pearl Island with Hilton Worldwide. In the next few years, First Qatar will be investing up to $ 390 million in the new hotel, which will be located on the artificial island “The Pearl“ Qatar. “This is the most significant Abbas ElMoussawihttps://plus.google.com/105848221599631399644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533777286224184793.post-35941733881409226302014-04-10T02:11:00.000-07:002014-05-22T05:25:50.868-07:00MENA Social Rocks MENAMENA Social ® is the leading online content aggregation platform focused on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. It allows users to follow the most talked about MENA online content all through one single user-friendly aggregation platform updated in real-time! Checking out many separate websites frequently can take a long time and rapidly become cumbersome. Aggregation technologies Abbas ElMoussawihttps://plus.google.com/105848221599631399644noreply@blogger.com